British Airways says its too early to see signs of recovery

British Airways CEO, Willie Walsh, stated there is evidence that declines in passenger traffic have reached the bottom, but it is too early to say there are signs of recovery (Independent, 27-Aug-09).

British Airways: “Some people see the slight growth in overall travel as being a green shoot, but it is clearly not. The decline in premium traffic tells you the general business environment is still pretty weak, and that's going to remain the case for some time. There might be some evidence that we've reached the bottom. Traffic has stabilised and looks better in the peak summer months, but it is far too early to say that there are signs of recovery. We have a bit to go before we see that, and quite a bit more to go before we see the recovery meaning something. The airlines that go out of business are the ones that say, 'oh well, we'll wait for it to come back'. I've been in this business long enough to see repeated situations where people thought things would come back, but they don't,” Willie Walsh, CEO. Source: Independent, 27-Aug-09.

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So far there has been no reaction to these developments from the new-start Odyssey Airlines, which plans to launch an all-business class London City-New York service in 2017. It will no doubt be attempting to find a balance between relief that its level of competition has reduced, and some anxiety that its launch may coincide with a softening of market demand.